The good news or the bad news?

The bad news first: The College Board, which administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), announced this week that only 43% of those in the class of 2012 graduates finished high school prepared for a college curriculum. (The College Board measured college readiness by meeting a SAT benchmark score of 1550.) The average SAT reading (verbal) scores have decreased significantly over the last forty years. Nationally, 44% of high-school freshmen go on to attend college and 21% earn a bachelor's degree in six years, the College Board reported.

Fortunately, there is also good news:  Virginia’s 2012 college-bound high school seniors graduating from public schools outperformed the national averages by 17 points.  The College Board’s report also indicated that 40 percent of test-takers in Virginia were minorities. State rankings will be updated early next year but Virginia ranked third in the nation in achievement on Advanced Placement examinations.

Congressman Forbes believes that responsibility for student achievement is best handled by the states and individual school districts, in order to enhance local flexibility, protect taxpayers’ investments in education, and strengthen state and local autonomy. Read more about his work on education here.

Question of the week: Which of the following solutions do you support to improve our elementary and secondary educational system? (Multi-Answer)

(  ) Decreased reliance on standardized testing

(  ) Increased use of standardized testing

(  ) Additional waivers from the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind)

(  ) Modification to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to remove penalties for not meeting yearly standards of learning

(  ) General reduction of the federal government’s role in elementary and secondary education

(  ) Increased teacher pay in general

(  ) Merit-based teacher pay

(  )  Teacher Union Reform

(  ) Increased funding for schools

(  ) Increased funding for charter schools

(  ) Increased school choice options

(  ) Other


Take the poll here.

Find out the results of last week’s instapoll here.